Our True Selves
"Our True Selves" is the 24th episode of Once Upon a Virus, as well as its second season's finale. Summary Prima's second wish has been granted, and it's made it so that Justine can remember nothing but total love and devotion for her mother. Joe, Josh, Rena and Liz race to get back their beloved Bureaucrat, but it could already be too late. Meanwhile, now aware of all the trickery that's been going on since their relationship started, Joanna confronts Silvia while her father, James 1234, commiserates his failure. Plot Flashes: of the fake memories which now swarm Justine's head, thanks to Prima. We see them doing mother/daughter activities together – learning to ride bikes, feeding her as a toddler, giving her away at cotillion, and more. A whole new life has been created for Lady Junky. She is a different person now. She stands in confusion, staring at Joe, having just asked him whether or not she knows him, much to his dismay. "Justine…?" Rena utters, running towards her, "Lady?" "How do you know my name?" she asks her husband, getting freaked out now, and then Josh approaches with his scythe in tow and the beautiful blonde Bureaucrat screams bloody murder, falling into her mother's arms for comfort. "It's okay, my darling," Prima says, stroking her daughter's hair gently, "Everything's going to be okay." The wicked woman then uses her magical powers to force Dlrgirl75 back into her lamp, which she then summons to her grip, proceeding to make both she and Justine disappear from sight in a flurry of purple-pink smoke. "No…" Josh utters, "We've lost her…" Rena re-approaches Liz, who's now standing up, and removes the gag from her mouth so that she may talk, asking the sheriff what happened. "This madwoman," she starts, "She claimed that she was Justine's mother and she used this genie to wish for her to forget any important relationship she's ever had in the stead of a seemingly perfect one she now has with that… nut job. Who the hell even was she?" "That was Primadonna Girl," Josh tells her, "And she is indeed Lady Junky's mother." "Mr. Mayor…" Liz utters, realizing that he's returned from Wikia, and then she turns to Joe, who's been stood behind Rena, and immediately launches herself into a hug with him. Joe hugs her back, and she tells him that she missed him; he says he missed her too, but a kiss isn't shared. "Bored again," Josh tells them, "Yet again, my daughter needs to be found." "Well, can't we just do what we did the last time?" Joe asks, walking over to Prima's spell book, which rests on the floor, and picking it up. He opens it to the page containing the locator spell… but all the ink is smudged, spelling gibberish and splats. "What happened?" Joe asks, showing it to Josh, and the Evil Bureaucrat diagnoses that the ink needs time to properly reform itself after usage – could be a while before it's ready again. "Right," says Rena, "So… what do we do now?" "We leave, that's what," Prima is telling her daughter, whose hand is held in hers, as the two of them approach the town line. "But why are we leaving?" Justine wonders. "We have to get away from those awful people," Prima tries explaining, but this only leads to Justine asking who those people actually were. At this, Prima turns to her daughter sternly and says, "Bad people." "But—" "Justine! Have I ever let you down?" "No, mom…" Justine concedes. "You're damn right 'no'," says Prima, continuing to approach the town line only for the air to ripple around her – she becomes aware of the mystical barrier surrounding the town, which prevents anyone from being able to leave. She stomps her foot in annoyance before trying to use her magic on it, but the Virus is a lot stronger than her. She looks at the genie's lamp in her other hand and thinks about using her third wish… but she doesn't want to waste it. Instead, she turns to Justine, and she says, "Sweetie… you want to live happily ever after with me, don't you?" "Of course I do," Justine assures her mother. "Well then," Prima says, "You have to help me." "Help you with what?" "We need to get rid of those people we saw back there," Prima reveals, "Permanently." "Peep," Silvia says, still stood in Joanna's apartment, swathed in her black cloak, "I can explain." "Great," says a weak and pale Joanna, still sitting on her bed, "Then do so." "I… I…" "You're… what? Silvia, the ancestral witch? The Leech? Yeah, I heard your little confrontation with my father… all of it. So… that's why I've been feeling like crap lately? You've been stealing my magic?!" "Alright," says Silvia, her voice becoming more cold than the warmth she usually exudes towards her girlfriend, "I have had a super horrible day. I don't need this." "Well, like it or not," Peep tells her in reply, "You're getting it… You never loved me, did you?" "Nope," Silvia says bluntly, "Sorry and junk." Joanna looks crushed. Outside, James 1234 wakes up on the pavement, looking extremely annoyed. He gets to his feet, rubbing his head as he looks up at the him-shaped hole in his daughter's wall, and says to himself, "Well… I'm dying… there's only one more thing left to do now…" James is next seen entering The Sword and Hammer, where Tiago is serving bar. "Barkeep," James says, "I'll have a pint." "A pint of what?" Tiago asks, to which James replies, "Wine." "So, any ideas on how to find her?" Joe is asking as he, Rena, Josh and Liz walk back through Storywik, now coming up to the site of Silvia's destroyed house. "Liz," he says, "You're the sheriff, can't you do some… sheriffing?" "Prima teleported," Liz points out, "Which means there's no trail." "Well, that fills our quota of complete uselessness," says Josh. "Oh, shut up – maybe if you hadn't run in scythe-a-blazing we would've stood a chance of getting her back," Liz fires. "Arguing won't get us anywhere," Rena tries. "Yeah," says Josh, "Because I hear blacksmiths make fantastic therapists." "Oh, shut up," Rena then says himself. "All of you shut up!" Joe exclaims, "I just got my mother back, and now she's… gone, alright? So does anybody have anything helpful to contribute? How to we find her?" "Worry not," says Primadonna Girl, having appeared on the street, "It is I who have come to you." "So…" Joanna is uttering, "You're in love with my father… you've been sleeping with me in order to fuel a spell to get him here… and you just tried to use an insane ultimatum just so that you could get, what, one last roll in the hey? Oh, and you're like four-hundred years old…" "What, like you've never had work done?" Silvia replies, but all Joanna can say is, "I… I just can't… I can't process this… I can't believe—" "Do I give a crap what you believe?" Silvia exclaims, "I just reunited with my true love and it failed epically, alright? I'm sad, so will you just quit whining about your problems? God, some people are so…" "…selfish!" James exclaims to Tiago at the bar, finishing his wine, "I mean, I'm dying, and she just wants a good shag! Ugh! Give me another pint!" "Are you… paying?" Tiago asks. At this, James flares a fireball in his palm, asking the former blacksmith if he's going to make him pay. "Another pint of wine," Tiago says, "Coming right up." James smiles, nods, and extinguishes the flames. "Turns out," Prima tells everyone, "There's no freakin' leaving this drab little town – well, at least not without wasting a very valuable wish. So, if I want to live here in peace with my daughter… I'm going to have to kill you all." "Do your worst, bitch," Josh says, twirling his scythe. "Oh, Reg," says Prima, "I assure you I'll do my very best." Josh launches a fireball at his wife but it evaporates as soon as it hits the invisible shield in front of her. "You, on the other hand…" she adds. Liz draws her gun and fires three bullets at the woman; however, they simply bounce away into the sky. Prima laughs, and assures the four of them that she shall go undefeated; meanwhile, from behind a nearby building, Justine is seen with a book in tow reading ancient words, using her own magic to fuel the protection spell which surrounds Prima, for her mother is not yet adept enough at magic to multitask so skilfully. "You are sick…" Joanna spits. "Says the bedridden one," Silvia points out. "Will you stop turning this into a joke?!" her girlfriend yells, but Silvia tells her, "This is a joke! The whole of humanity is a joke and I am the punch line, here to end it all because I am above them, DeviousPeep! I am one of the witches of old!" "And I am one of the witches of new!" Joanna yells in turn, finally getting to her feet. "You don't even have magic," Silvia gloats. "I have some," Joanna assures her, "Enough." Silvia looks mildly surprised, and Joanna tilts her head, asking, "What? You thought you took every last drop? You didn't, honey… I'm still here." "You can't do anything to me," Silvia begins as Joanna slowly approaches, "I am the most powerful witch who ever lived! I am a seer! I can see the future! And it… is… glorious!" Suddenly, Joanna places her hand on Silvia's cheek, and the two of them melt down into blood, against the latter's will. The puddle remains on the floor for a while, writhing and twirling, but soon enough, one form begins to rise. "Bet you didn't see that coming, seer," says Peep in a scarily stoic voice, now adorned in both her witch uniform and Silvia's cloak. Her eyes are black and crying blood down her cheeks; overflowing – she has taken her magic back, and Silvia's, and all that Silvia has stolen throughout her long life. The Leech has been absorbed, and Peep, black eyes glaring, blood glistening as it pours from her eyes, turns to her apartment door and exits, eerily saying to herself, "Speaking of the most powerful witch who ever lived…" "You know what?" James says to Tiago, drunk off his ass, "Screw this life… I am going… for a walk." He hops off his barstool and heads outside via the back door, where Prima is engaged in a standoff with Josh, Joe, Rena and Liz. "You like magic so much, hubby dearest? Well… abracadabra." With that, a purple, lightning-like energy ensues from her palms, firing at her four adversaries and causing them all to stumble back in pain, clutching their stomachs. Prima cackles madly, and James watches this, saying to himself, "Meh… good for her." He continues walking, and walking, and walking until he makes it to the woods, standing still in a clearing and breathing in heavily, taking in all the nature around him; all the life. He opens his closed eyes after a while, and he scoffs, uttering, "Life is overrated." Back in the street, Josh and Prima are exchanging magical blows, which involves him mostly dodging her attacks because his attacks simply bounce off her shield. He can be seen deflecting a pink energy ball with the blade of his scythe as Joe scours the wreckage with Liz, finding his bow and his quiver of arrows on top. Liz, meanwhile, finds her sword, but, already having her gun, she decides to toss it to Rena, who's unarmed. Prima quickly uses some well-timed telekinesis to make both the sword and Rena go flying, and he is left crawling for it as Liz attempts to run around the other side of the shield, wanting to fire shots. However, she herself bounces off of the shield and is propelled backwards. Justine watches worriedly as she keeps it running, and Prima claws at the air quickly and sharply, causing scratch marks to appear across her husband's face. Her sadistic cackling grows louder. Joe fires one of his Jdg98-constructed arrows and it manages to pierce the shield; however, Prima manages to catch it with a spare hand, having to drop Dlrgirl's lamp in order to do so, causing the golden container to go bouncing down the street. Joe tries firing another arrow into the same place he fired the first and succeeds; although he completely misses Prima, who's moved by this time, he has made the hole bigger, and he looks to Josh, who nods and fires a blast of black energy through said hole, which hits Prima directly and causes her to fall down. Justine lets out a cry, which distorts her reading of the book, thus weakening the shield. Prima tries standing up, but Josh fires another energy blast at random, this one causing the entire shield to visibly shatter into nothingness. Justine cries more, having failed her mother, and simply starts to pray as Prima gets to her feet and quickly fires her own energy blast. Her pink is met by Josh's black and the two magical streams coerce in an intense match, sending stray blasts of colorful lightning in all directions. As Prima engages herself with this, Rena is able to make a fireball in his hand and throw it at her, causing her dress to set alight. He smiles, proud of himself, and the magic streams turn off as Prima forms a raincloud above her head and forces it to rain on her, thus putting the fire out. Wanting her to catch fire again, Josh sends a stream of flames after his wife, but she quickly turns her raincloud into a stream of water and now it's these two streams which engage in an intense match. Much steam is released, causing Prima's hair to frizz, and Liz uses this distraction to fire a few more shots at the villainess. Prima, however, cuts off her stream of water and rolls beneath the fireballs that come hurtling her way as a result, thus dodging the bullets as well before using her magic to force Liz's gun out of her hand; it floats in mid-air before crumpling into a wrecked… thing. She is left weapon-less now, and so Rena tosses her the sword, hoping that he'll be helpful in this little fight by using his own magic. Josh sends another fireball after his wife but she manages to catch it in her own palm, giving it a little blow and nodding towards Justine, who knows what page to turn to and begins reading some more words in order to aid her mother. From both their magic comes a giant snake made of fire, roaring down at Joe, Liz, Rena and Josh, all of whom appear shocked and frightened. It goes to eat Josh but he uses his own telekinesis to whip it away, causing it some sort of pain as it roars half-heartedly. He manages to manipulate it into a simple, giant ball of fire which he tries hurtling at Primadonna Girl, but she simply causes it to disperse entirely, trying to again form water out of what's left. However, seeing what she's doing, Josh immediately takes control of this water and entraps Prima within a ball of it, causing her to float around against her will as her husband tries to drown her. Justine quickly reads a passage from her book which causes the water to drop, and splash everywhere, and an annoyed Prima gets to her feet, having Liz's sword thrown right at her chest. It goes in, but she just pulls it out, and takes the time to wave a glowing purple hand over the wound. Joe uses this time to fire an arrow at her, which pierces her other hand, and she pulls it out and throws it back at him, hitting a wall behind her grandson and causing a minor explosion, forcing him to duck. She heals her hand wound as quick as she can and makes the bloodied sword go flying through a window, hurtling her purple-black lightning-like energy once more at her enemies. "Rena, shield!" Josh yells, and the two of them work together in order to force the energy to turn its trajectory upwards and fire uselessly into the clouds, where it dissipates harmlessly. Another arrow is fired at Prima and she catches it in all her anger, letting forth a burst which smashes all the nearby windows. Smiling a little, Prima uses her magic to lift up the tiny shards of glass and she sends them, in spires, to tear her four adversaries to shreds. However, Josh again calls Rena's name, and the two of them again combine their magic – when the glass passes through their newly-formed shield, it turns to harmless sand, which flies away on the wind. During all this confusion, Dlrgirl75 exits her lamp and picks it up, seeing what's going on and looking scared out of her mind. Knowing that she can't be much help to her friends whilst under Prima's control, she decides to run away, lamp in tow, and she doesn't stop running. All the sand in the air obscures our heroes' visions for a while, but not for long, and Prima disappears in a flurry of smoke. Justine pokes her head around the corner, confused, and only Joe sees, and so he begins running towards her. "Did we win?" Liz asks, confused. "Not yet," says Prima, having appeared behind the three of them, and she manipulates the material of her dress to form tentacles, which reach out and grab them. Liz flails and Rena and Josh have both their arms bound. Josh tries making a fireball but all it can do is hit the floor and Prima giggles, tightening her grip on them and using her magic further when she reaches out her hand and begins choking her husband with it. Liz and Rena barely see, being squeezed so tight, and Joe comes face-to-face with his mother. She is startled at first and drops the book entirely, but Joe tells her not to be afraid. "I saw you… earlier," she remembers. "That's right," he says, "You did." "I… never learned your name…" "My name?" he says, "It's Joe, but… my mother? She called me Jdg98." Justine appears strangely comforted by this information. "It's nice that you have a mother for whom you care so deeply," Joe continues, "I never really had that… I grew up in foster care, you see. But, eventually, after twenty-one years… I found my mother again. And she was beautiful… smart… brave… in short, a hero. I couldn't have asked for anyone better… but now she's gone again, and I don't know what to do…" Justine looks sad, and asks Joe if he knows when she'll be coming back. He shakes his head, and the beautiful blonde takes extreme pity on him, taking him by the hand. He looks up with a smile. Meanwhile, Prima ceases choking Josh and relinquishes her grip on Rena and Liz slightly, saying to herself, "Wait a minute… isn't there one more of you?" Around the corner of the building, Justine takes Joe's head in her hand and leans forwards, kissing him on the forehead in order to comfort him and thus releasing a burst of true love throughout the town. As Lady Junky's memories are restored, one in particular is stressed – her, just after birth, holding her baby boy. Baby Jdg98. He reaches his hand up and she smiles delicately, completely in love with him already. The maternal instinct has never been stronger, and for those few, few moments… Lady Junky is the happiest mother in all of Wikia. "Joe…" Justine utters, recognition in her voice, and she immediately hugs him, much to his delight. The two of them step out onto the street, much to the surprise of Rena, Liz and Josh, who all turn to face her. Prima's fabricated tentacles shrink back into her dress as she runs towards her daughter. "Justine," she exclaims, "I told you to keep hidden away." "Oh, mother," Justine exclaims in turn, running towards her. They look as though they might hug… but then Justine punches her square in the face. "You," she hisses, "Are a terrible mother, and I never want to see you again!" Prima looks deeply hurt, cradling her bleeding nose, and she begins to cry. She then looks towards Josh, who shares his daughter's look of intense anger. After looking back to her daughter and memorizing her face one last time, Prima disappears in another flurry of purple-pink smoke. Rena, Liz and Josh run towards Justine, and she exchanges hugs with each of them. "Thank God you're the Mayor again, daddy," she says, "Because there's no way in hell I'm organizing for all of this to be repaired." The shot then pans, revealing the thoroughly wrecked street. Dark Peep forms from blood and approaches the town line, her black cloak billowing like an army of shadows behind her. She continues walking, the sunlight catching her black eyes and their tears of blood, and then her eyes catch something themselves: James 1234, emerging from the woods and standing right in front of the town exit. "You…" he utters, looking at her in surprise; she approaches. "You're… you're teeming with magic," he senses, "Not drained at all…" He takes out his knife, and utters, "I can still be saved." "Unfortunately not," Peep says, blinking at his knife and melting it down into hot metal, causing James to scream as it sears his flesh. Peep then waves her hand over the ground and molecules begin to rise, forming in her hand… the exact same potion that Josh had intended to use on her, but dropped beside the town exit weeks before (see "The New Virus"). She has reformed it. "Reginafan2626 planned to use this to destroy me," she says in her new, frightening tone of voice, "It's designed to send witches into combustion upon contact… I wonder what it does to warlocks." With that, she causes the potion to float over to him, and cracks the glass over his forehead, spilling the fiery-orange liquid all over his flesh. James' skin catches fire, and soon the rest of him does too, and he screams, unable to even run because Peep is keeping him frozen to the spot, watching curiously as he dies. It isn't long before he's reduced to nothing but a smoking pile of bones, which rests on the floor without any semblance of dignity. "Hm," says Peep simply, then turning her attention to the mystical barrier which surrounds the town. She lifts James' detached spine from his broken skeleton and she pours her magic into it, uttering, "I got your back, Jack," before hurling forwards. The spine hits the mystical barrier and causes it to tear away completely, leaving Storywik open for business. Peep approaches the line she earlier drew, and she utters, "Look out, world… I'm coming," before taking her first step over it, free within the real world. DavidTennantismyAngel, who's been looking for Joanna and having witnessed everything that just happened, says to herself, "Oh, my God… that was so cool!" She proceeds to cross the town line herself, following Peep in her pursuit of global domination. Primadonna Girl, weakened from her fight and from the hard punch she sustained from her daughter, stumbles towards the redressed bakery and enters, wherein she discovers Dlrgirl75, curled up on the couch and crying, scared. "So this is where you scampered off to, eh genie? You coward…" Dlr continues to cry, looking up at the woman who now dominates her and uttering, "Mistress…?" "That's right," Prima says, and she uses her magic to lift Dlrgirl to her feet, before pinning her up against the wall, approaching and squaring right up to her face. "It's time to put your brave face on, genie," she says, "Because I have got one more wish left to make, and I am gonna use it to screw this town over… sysoply." Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes Category:Season Finales